Technical Field
The invention relates generally to improved culture media for manipulating cell populations, particularly populations of cells comprising hematopoietic stem cells, compositions thereof, and methods of using such media and compositions.
Description of the Related Art
Stem cells have utility for many clinical and research applications. For example, stem cells and their differentiated progeny can be used in cellular assays, drug screening, and toxicity assays. Stem cells also show promise for cell-based therapies, such as in regenerative medicine for the treatment of damaged tissue. One aspect of regenerative medicine being pursued is the use of hematopoietic stem cell transplants to treat an expanding list of cancers and degenerative disorders. According to the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), an estimated 45,000 to 50,000 hematopoietic cell transplants (bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC), or cord blood transplants) are performed annually worldwide to treat patients with life-threatening malignant and non-malignant diseases (Horowitz M M. Uses and Growth of Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. In: Blume K G, Forman S J, Appelbaum F R, eds. Thomas' Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. 3rd ed. Malden, Mass: Blackwell; 2004:9-15). Moreover, approximately 4,800 patients are transplanted annually using unrelated donors or cord blood units through the NMDP.
For all of these applications, reproducible stem cell culture methods are needed to provide adequate numbers of cells of suitable quality for the purpose for which they are to be used. However, the art currently lacks any cell culture media that can preserve the biological activities of cells that undergo cell processing activities, including such processes as cryopreservation, thawing, resuspension, expansion, culturing, and maintenance of cell populations result in some degree of cell death. Thus, the art is in need of efficient cell culture media for processing, maintaining, manipulating, and expanding populations of cells for research and therapeutic purposes.